Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders during their MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate at the University of New Hampshire on Feb. 4, 2016 in Durham, New Hampshire. (Credit: Getty Images / Justin Sullivan)

Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton to debate tonight in Wisconsin

After getting routed in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton will try to regain her footing in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination when she squares off with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in a Wisconsin debate Thursday night.

It’s shaping up to be a longer fight for the nomination that many pundits first predicted.

“Plans to wrap this up in hurry would only occur only if there was a major change in the campaign,” Marist College pollster Lee Miringoff said after Sanders beat Clinton by 22 points. “It was such a drubbing, Sanders now requires a full looking over by Democrats. If it had been 8 points, everyone would’ve said, ‘Oh, it’s just the neighborhood effect.’”

The debate, from Milwaukee, will air at 9 p.m. on PBS stations and CNN.

Sanders, who has called for a political revolution, tapped into anger on the left to score his huge win. But now the contest moves south and west to states with more diverse populations and stronger base support for Clinton.

“Now we will take the fight to the entire country,” Clinton promised her New Hampshire supporters after conceding the state Tuesday night.

Trying to immediately dispatch New Hampshire, the Clinton campaign handed out press releases before her remarks touting her strong support in South Carolina — site of the next Democratic primary, Feb. 20. She is seen as have broader support than Sanders among African-Americans, who might make up nearly 60 percent of the Democratic turnout in South Carolina, Miringoff said.

Other contests come up quickly. The Democratic caucus in Nevada is set for Feb. 23. Then “Super Tuesday” comes March 1 when more than 10 states hold primaries or caucuses.

After the Tuesday loss, Clinton vowed: “No one will out work me.”

“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get back up,” she told supporters.

Sanders contended he is the only candidate who can’t truly excite Democratic votes and generate a huge party turnout in the November election.

“What happened here in New Hampshire, in terms of an aroused and enthusiastic electorate . . . that is what will happen all over this country,” Sanders said.